


Five people who have put Jack Harkness to bed

by Jadesfire



Category: Captain Jack Harkness - Fandom, Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-30
Updated: 2010-03-30
Packaged: 2017-10-08 12:44:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/75773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jadesfire/pseuds/Jadesfire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For Taffimai</p>
    </blockquote>





	Five people who have put Jack Harkness to bed

**Author's Note:**

> For Taffimai

1\. His mother's lips are warm and soft, leaving a wet mark on his forehead that cools faster than his skin in the air from the 'changers. He stirs a little as she settles his head on the pillow, the sudden loss of her makes him feel lost for a moment, drifting on the sea of his fever. But she is still close, her hands pulling the blanket over him, smoothing his hair and stroking his forehead until there is no trace of her kiss any more, just the constant presence of his mother's touch soothing him back down into sleep.

2\. Some of his new buddies call it 'hazing', thinking they're cool for dredging up an ancient word that they can't even pronounce properly. Personally, he would have chosen the word 'humiliating' and possibly 'painful', which is ironic as the academy is supposed to beat both of those concepts out of you. He wakes up in the morning, bruises on top of his bruises and the vague memory of laughter ringing in his ears. Still, someone left him with clean sheets, a water bottle and a medi-pak of 'gesics and bandages, so maybe they like him after all.

3\. It figures that he's only been on the TARDIS a week and he's already managed to get himself into trouble. When the guy with the stunner finally got one shot on target, Jack had figured that was the others' cue to skedaddle. Instead, when he came round, he found himself being hauled through the space-station none-too-gently, Rose yelling something and the Doctor muttering under his breath. He must have lost it again, because he woke up in this bed, as comfortable as someone who's been hit with that much juice could be. His body isn't working properly yet, so it's as much as he can manage to get his eyes open. Almost at once, someone sweeps their fingers over his face, closing his eyes again in an unsubtle hint. When he feels them rearranging the blankets that are already snug around his chest, he figures he's safe to let himself drift back into sleep.

4\. Alice has never been known for her bedside manner, and she's far too amused by Jack's current state. Three days into her nursing, he's almost tempted to take up her offer to kill him and hope that sorts him out, rather than put up with more of her ministrations. Knowing his luck, though, he'd wake up with the alien virus still in his system and they'd just have to start over. That doesn't sound too attractive, so for now, he's stuck letting Alice help him in and out of bed, listening to her tall tales of her shady past (some of which raise even his eyebrows), and falling asleep with her hand stroking the back of his, even as she curses him for being such an idiot. All in all, it's not so bad.

5\. The Hub echoes this late at night, lorries on the new motorway overhead making everything rattle. Tomorrow, Jack will finish shutting down the Rift monitor so that the new station can take over completely. He takes a little satisfaction in the fact that it's named Torchwood Five, even if Four never did turn up. They may think that three centuries here makes him redundant, but at least someone's still listening to him. They still need him. Not tonight, though. Tonight is for him and the ghosts, the thousands of echoes of lives that are still held in these walls. The device is warm from where he's been holding it for the past three hours, and while not everything he's seen has been a good memory, he's been glad to see them all. Carefully, he pulls another chair over, putting his feet up on it and draping his coat over like a blanket. Then he leans his head back against the back of the chair, closes his eyes and rests his hands on the controls again, letting the voices of Torchwood lull him to sleep.


End file.
